A new blood donation procedure is making its way into Utah County, meaning donors could give twice as much, half as often, with none of the side effects.

Double red cell donation is available now in some American Red Cross mobile blood drives. It allows technicians to draw two units of red blood cells in one sitting and replace the platelets and plasma in the donor. By doing so, hospitals receive more of a badly needed component while donors don't leave feeling as fatigued and dehydrated as they might have, said Dr. Annie Strupp, chief medical officer for the local region of the Red Cross.

"We have already seen a better ability to fill our hospital's needs," she said. "The donors love it. We haven't had anyone turn us down."

The local Red Cross owns six machines necessary for the work -- called ALYX Component Collection Systems -- with plans to purchase two more this fiscal year, said CEO Julia Wulf. They have already appeared in mobile units at several blood drives around Brigham Young University, she said.

"We're still doing this at a pretty small percentage," Wulf said. On an average day, the Red Cross hopes to collect 465 units between whole blood and red cells; earlier this week, a particularly good drive yielded 70 units through the new process, she said.

Making a double red cell donation takes 10-15 minutes longer than a conventional donation, but otherwise is no different to the donor. The ALYX draws blood, uses centrifugal force to separate the red cells, and returns the remainder to the body with some added salt-water solution. Strupp said whole blood is typically separated into components in the lab after donation anyway, but the machine makes the double-draw possible by returning everything else.

"We're still so much in the infancy of how we envision using this technology," she said. "It will never replace whole blood donations."

Because donors lose twice as many red blood cells, which are the slowest part of blood to regenerate, the waiting period between donations is twice as long. Double red cell donors can donate every 112 days.

Strupp said another big benefit is the ability to target blood types in high demand. She said about 40 percent of the population is type O, the universal donor, but hospitals use it for about 52 percent of patients. Any way to collect more of those red blood cells is a boon to hospitals, she said.

Wulf said the Red Cross hopes soon to be able to target rare donors, too. The Red Cross is training its staff on a basic blood test to identify donors' types on the spot. With that, it could be possible to find donors who can help patients with antibodies and other complicating factors, she said.

"We're still trying to work out best practices," she said.

Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo is one of about 40 hospitals in Utah, Idaho, Montana, Southeast Oregon and Southwest Wyoming served by the local Red Cross region. Brenda Johnson, lead technologist for transfusion services at UVRMC, said her facility uses about 650 units of red blood cells per month. She said the possibility of finding blood for those patients is the most exciting aspect of the new technology.

"The Red Cross is really good at increasing whatever they need to do to keep up," she said.

For information about where to donate or to learn more about setting up a blood drive in your community, call 800-GIVE-LIFE.

• Ace Stryker can be reached at 344-2556 or astryker@heraldextra.com.